Newcastle Eagles skipper Andrew Bridge is bracing himself for a Scottish Rocks backlash in Glasgow tomorrow. The Rocks were subjected to one of the most dramatic losses in recent memory earlier in the season when the Eagles clinched a sensational double-overtime win.

Bridge is expecting the Rocks to be seeking revenge in a fixture that will be repeated a fortnight today when the old foes battle it out in Crawley at the BBL Cup semi-finals.

‘I don’t think that this league game will affect the semi-final too much because it will be another tight game,’ he said. ‘The semi-final is at a neutral venue in a knockout competition whereas we know that the Rocks will be gunning for us at Braehead after what we did to them on their own court last time.’

‘They will be eager to get revenge and we are expecting them to really come at us. Braehead is one of the toughest places in the league to go and get a win and this time it will be even harder because they won’t have forgotten what happened earlier in the season.’

‘Not only that, but it is definitely the case that they seem to be finding a little more consistency now, and their player-coach Sterling Davis looks to have found his feet. In the first few months he seemed to be focusing on the coaching element but now that could be sorted out I have noticed he is scoring again and being a real threat on the floor, which is something we must watch out for.’

While Bridge is acutely aware of the danger posed by the Rocks to the Eagles’ nine-game winning streak in the league, he is nevertheless adamant that the run can continue.

‘I am confident that we can get a win because while they have improved, we definitely have too,” added Bridge. ‘We are a different team to the one that played there last time. Our last game against Chester was the best of the season by some way because we came together as a team. Individual players’ numbers might not have shown that, but team-wise we were all on the same page.’

‘We never talk about the streak because we know that we will lose another game at some point. Obviously the longer we go on winning the better, but we are just glad to be playing well at this point and we look to get even stronger.’

The Eagles have rearranged September’s postponed game against Birmingham Panthers. They will now travel to Walsall on Sunday, February 17.